Two Skies, One Color
by The Nefarious Nerd
Summary: The Doctor has been defeated and the floating island saved. Giygas is on the verge of defeat. But Pokey has one more card to play. Now Ness, Quote, and friends must band together to face a new threat on the horizon, with the fate of 2 worlds at stake.
1. The Darkness Falls

Darkness...

Surrounding, penetrating darkness. And in the midst of that darkness, stood four children in machine bodies, standing against the greatest evil to ever threaten this world. The Galactic Cosmic Destroyer, Giygas.

"Heh heh heh heh heh. You must really be at the end of you rope." laughed a malicious voice in the darkness. "In this bizarre dimension, you four are the only force fighting for justice... And here you stand, waiting to be burned up with the rest of the garbage of the universe... Haaaaah! That's so sad. I can't help but shed a tear."

'_Shut up Pokey,"_ thought Ness, _"Just shut up and let us finish this.'_

"You know, my heart is beating incredibly fast," he sneered, "...I must be experiencing absolute terror!"

'_That's because you don't even realize what you've unleashed! None of us can understand what that monstrosity is!'_ But the truth is that Ness did know. They _all _knew. They were staring into the end of the universe itself, and it was more frightening than any of them could have imagined. Jeff was actually shaking where he stood and Paula seemed on the verge of crying, and although Poo kept on stoically, Ness could feel the fear coming off him in waves.

"Do you want to scream for help here in the dark? Ha ha ha ha ha!"

Ness did want to scream, he wanted to cry out for help and run, run away from this monster and never look back, never have to face this absolute perversion of existence. Run back home to his family and forget this nightmare.

"Why not call your mommy, Ness! Say, 'Mommy! Daddy! I'm so frightened! I think I'm gonna wet my pants!'" Pokey's mocking voice said. "I know you have telepathy, or something, so just try and call for help, you pathetically weak heroes of so-called justice! "

'_Help. Telepathy? That's it!'_

"No one will help you now! Ha ha ha haah... Don't worry, your pitiful suffering will be over soon!" Pokey's voice faded out.

"Paula!" Ness yelled, "Start praying!"

"For what?" Paula said weakly.

"For anything! Pray for help! Pray for strength! Pray for the love of every one on Earth! Pray for us, Paula!"

"Alright," she said.

And so, Paula prayed.

She prayed to Dr. Andonauts and the Mr. Saturns. She prayed to the Runaway Five. She prayed to her family. She prayed to Tony, and the people of Dalaam, and Frank Fly, and to Ness's family, and to anyone on Earth who could hear her...

...And everyone prayed back...

Giygas shrieked in pain, and his whole form seemed to collapse.

_'Oh no no no no nonononono, this isn't good,'_ thought Pokey. _'I... I have to think of something... The Devil's Machine!'_ Pokey reactivated the machine and energy began spewing out. Giygas let out a scream of unimaginable pain, strong enough to rip the fabric of space-time. Ness and his friends blacked out, their mechanical eyes unable to process what they were seeing and their audio receptors shattered from the noise and their minds drifted off into unconsciousness.

Pokey, however, was not so lucky...

Giygas's scream seemed to tear at his very soul, his mind was torn apart and put back together in an instant. A whole in the universe seemed to open and through it, Pokey could see everything. He saw the Big Bang and the expansion of the universe. He saw the formation of the stars and planets. He saw the creation of Earth. He saw all its history, even up to the present. And then he saw war. A war unlike any that had ravaged the planet before. A war which tore the entire planet apart. And the last thing he saw before the embrace of unconsciousness finally claimed him, was a white ship.

**====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====**

High above the ground, a large square shape could be seen flying across the sky. At first glance it looked like a lunchbox or toaster, until you noticed its eyes.

Perhaps just as interesting as the flying creature were the two figures who sat atop it. They looked to be no more than a pair of young teenagers, with unusually pale skin, and wearing green headphones with antennae.

But they were so much more than that.

They were the armed scout robots Quote and Curly Brace.

Three years ago, the two of them had saved the floating island from the evil Doctor, Fuyuhiko Date. Date had tried to enslave the island's mimiga population and turn them into weapons to use against the world. Quote was able to defeat him and save the mimigas, but the entire island nearly fell out of they sky. Only by teaming up with Curly Brace and defeating the tortured sorcerer Ballos was Quote able to save the island.

"It's a beautiful day today, huh Quote?" said Curly to her partner.

"Yes," he replied, "It certainly is."

"It looks just like any other day to me," said Balrog, their large cube-like companion busy focusing on his flying.

Despite the clear skies, a rather strong wind was blowing and Balrog was trying to make sure that neither of his small friends fell off. This normally wouldn't have been a problem as Quote usually had his Booster 2.0 with him at all times, but today the Booster wasn't working quite right, probably thanks to the crash it went through after Curly decided to borrow it for a quick joyride and lost control.

In fact, it hadn't been working right all week since the crash.

That was the reason that the three of them were flying out today. They had gotten in touch with Professor Booster, who had asked them to come in person to fix the jetpack. Professor Booster had designed the Booster 2.0, which he had named after himself, and if anyone could fix it, he could.

Quote let his gaze wander as Curly tried to convince Balrog that days like today don't just come along all the time, despite the fact that it was summer and the weather was usually sunny this time of year.

As he scanned the horizon, Quote suddenly noticed a pillar of light shoot up in the distance.

"Hey, did you guys see that?" he asked.

"See what?" asked Curly.

"That tall light. Over that way."

Quote pointed in the direction he saw the light.

"I didn't see anything," she replied.

"Me neither," said Balrog.

"We should go check it out!" exclaimed Quote.

Curly gave him a look. "Quote, we really should be heading to the Sakamoto's."

"It wont take long," he replied, "Besides, something could be wrong."

Curly sighed. He was probably right; he usually was.

Quote was always driven to help people, and she would never hear the end of it if they just ignored this. _'Then again,'_ thought Curly, _'Trouble usually means adventure.'_

Like Quote's need to help others, Curly had a certain thirst for adventure that her desire for a peaceful living just couldn't suppress.

"Alright," she said, "Let's go. Balrog..."

"I'm already on it," he said.

And with that, the three of them headed off in the direction Quote had indicated.

They set down in a forest and began to look around.

After a few minutes, they found something.

A large clearing looked like it had been blasted out of the forest. The ground looked scorched in some areas, but what really caught their attention was what was lying in the center of the clearing.

Four children were lying on the ground...

All of them looked tired and hurt, and none of them were conscious.

"This doesn't look good," said Curly. "We'd better get these kids some help, and fast. Balrog..."

"Yeah?"

"Do you think you can carry these kids back with us?"

"I'll do my best," he replied.

"Don't forget their stuff," she said to Quote as she proceeded to gather the kids up with Balrog.

"I won't," he replied.

There were several small items scattered on the ground, including a red cap, a very strange sword, a frying pan, and many other things.

The one thing that stood out among the others however was a bat that looked like it had seen a lot of action. Quote picked it up and examined it.

Their was a name written on the side.

"Ness?"

_'It must belong to one of those kids.'_ he thought.

Without another word he carefully picked up the bat and the other objects lying around and hurried back to join the others...


	2. Coming to Light

Ness was standing in a grassy field that seemed to stretch out for miles. In the distance he could see a vast forest at the base of a long mountain range. Ness looked down and noticed that he had his body back. He then looked up, and his expression instantly turned to shock and wonder as above him, he saw a large floating island.

Ness stared at the island for a few moments before he noticed that the island seemed to be getting bigger. With a start, he realized that the island was falling, and he was standing right under it! Ness started to run, but no matter how fast he ran, he couldn't outrun the falling landmass above him.

He stumbled and fell to the ground. He looked up and saw a wall of stone about to crush him. Ness cried out and held up his hands as though to ward away the enormous mass about to flatten him. He was doomed.

**====0=======0========0========0========0========0**

Ness woke up with a start. The first thing he noticed as he sat up was that he appeared to be in a bed. The second thing he noticed was that he wasn't a robot. _'Was it all just a dream?'_ he wondered. _"Could it all be just in my head? Does that mean that I never really met my friends? That we never went on our adventures together?'_ His head was spinning. He couldn't believe it had all been a dream, it was just too real. It was then he noticed that he wasn't in his own bed. In fact, he didn't know where he was.

"Oh! You're awake!" said a voice to his side. He turned his head to see a teenage girl with blonde hair, pale skin, and what looked like green headphones over her ears. "You've been out for hours, we were starting to get worried. My name's Curly Brace, by the way."

"Where am I?" asked Ness, "What happened?"

"We found you laying in a field. You and your friends looked pretty badly hurt."

_'My friends!'_ Ness looked to his other side and saw his friends asleep in beds like his. He let out a sigh of relief.

"So... do you have a name, or something?" Curly asked.

"Ness," he replied instantly, "My name's Ness."

"Okay. It's nice to meet you Ness."

"Thanks. What is this place?"

"This is the Sakamotos' place. They kind of have a miniature hospital set up here. It's not surprising, considering the kinds of things that go on here."

"And what kinds of things would those be?" asked Ness, a little curious. Curly was about to answer when they both heard a groan coming from the other side of the room. Jeff sat up in his bed and stretched.

"Awwww man, what a dream," he said.

"Jeff, you're awake."

"Oh, hey Ness. Where are we?"

"I can explain," said Curly. "But I think we should wait until all of you are awake. Otherwise we could be here all day."

"All right. Wait, who are you?" asked Jeff.

"I'm Curly Brace."

"I'm Jeff."

"And I'm starving," Ness said suddenly, having realized that he hadn't eaten since before going back in time.

"Let me go see if Momorin has some food around," said Curly as she got up to check.

"I'd like steak if you have it," called Ness as she walked out.

"Hey Ness," said Jeff.

"Yeah?"

"How did we get here?"

"I don't know Jeff. Maybe we can ask Curly when she gets back." Ness looked over at Paula. She still wasn't awake. Neither was Poo. Ness decided to try and reach out to Paula with his telepathy.

_'Paula. Paula, can you hear me?'_

_'Ness?' _

_'Paula, wake up.'_

Paula slowly opened her eyes. She yawned and sat up. "Ness?"

"Good morning Paula. Or afternoon, I guess," said Ness sheepishly.

"Well, good afternoon to you too," she replied. "Where are we?"

"You know, if I had a dime for how many times that question's been asked today.."

"You'd have about thirty cents," interrupted Jeff. Paula giggled and Ness chuckled along with her. After a moment Jeff joined in, realizing he had made a joke out of the rhetorical question. Soon they were laughing out loud together. It was then that a girl who looked about fifteen with tan skin and green hair walked in.

"Looks like Curly was right. It's good to see the four of you awake," the girl said.

_'The four of us?'_ thought Ness. He then looked over to see that Poo was sitting upright in bed.

No stretch.

No yawn.

He was just awake.

_'How does he do that?'_ Ness wondered.

He looked at the girl for a moment. She looked back.

"Hello," he said, "I don't believe we have been introduced. I am Prince Poo of Dalaam. And you would be..."

"Sue Sakamoto," she replied.

In an instant, Poo was out of bed and standing in front of Sue, holding one of her hands.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Sakamoto," he said, kissing her hand. Sue drew her hand back. And then hit Poo with a punch that sent him sprawling to the floor.

"Try that again and I'll knock you into next week!" she yelled at him. She wasn't exaggerating either. Ever since they came back from the island, Sue had been taking self-defense lessons, and she was excelling. She could almost even hold her own against Quote. Almost.

Ness and Jeff looked shocked. Poo looked utterly stupefied. Paula just shrugged.

"He got what was coming to him," she said.

"Darn right he did," Sue said. "So who are you guys anyway?'

"I'm Paula."

"I'm Ness."

"I'm Jeff."

"Well, you already know who I am. It's nice to meet you all," she glanced at Poo, "Hey, is he going to be okay? He looks pretty out of it."

"He'll be alright, he's been through worse," said Ness. "By the way, where are we, exactly?"

"Sherwood County, just south of Los Logos," said Sue.

"I've never heard of that place before," said Jeff.

"Me neither," said Paula.

"Are we still in Eagleland?" asked Ness.

"Now you're confusing me, I've never heard of a place with that name," said Sue.

"Place with what name?" came a voice from the door.

"Eagleland, Mom. Have you ever heard of it?" inquired Sue.

A tall woman with long green hair walked through the door.

"No, I can't say that I have," said Momorin.

"That can't be right," said Jeff, stunned, "Eagleland is a premier world power. It's impossible to have never heard of it."

"It's very well known. Even in Dalaam," agreed Poo, finally getting up off the floor.

"I've never heard of that country either, and I do pride myself on my geographic knowledge," said Momorin matter-of-factually.

"What about Winters?" asked Jeff.

"Or Summers?" Paula chimed in, "Have you heard of them either?"

"I know the seasons, but I've never heard of countries with those names," replied Sue.

"What about Saturn Valley?" asked Ness, "Have you ever heard of the Mr. Saturns?"

"The who?"

"The Mr. Saturns. Really short people with big noses and no arms. They're really smart and a little strange but they're very kindhearted people," stated Paula.

"Now you guys sound like you're describing some kind of alien," said Sue, "Are you from another planet or something?"

Then it hit Ness.

"I think we are."

"It was just a joke."

"No, I mean we may actually be from another world."

"What are you talking about, Ness?" asked Paula, clearly concerned.

"Think about it. These people have never heard of any major countries or the Mr. Saturns and they probably have never heard of PSI either."

"PS-what now?" said Sue.

"See," said Ness. "PSI is psychic energy, and certain people can use it to do extraordinary things. People with PSI can shoot fire and lightning, they can move mountains and control minds, and some beings..." Ness paused. "Some beings are even strong enough to destroy the entire planet," Ness finished.

Sue and her mother looked at each other for a moment. "Maybe we should get everyone together so you can tell us everything," Momorin said.

**=====0======0========0=======0=======0==========0**

Everyone, minus Balrog, was gathered in the living room of the Sakamoto compound. The room was large, with a cathedral ceiling, enough chairs and couches to seat twenty people, and several tables spread amongst the room. Light poured in from the windows and the large skylight set into the broad ceiling. Momorin had taken the liberty of making turkey sandwiches for everyone, which many of them were eagerly munching on.

"So, why don't you all start from the beginning," said Momorin.

"Alright. It all started when a meteor crash-landed near my hometown. I went to go check it out with my... friend Pokey and his little brother Picky. It turned out that an alien named Buzz Buzz had used the meteor to travel back in time to find me. He said that in ten years an evil being named Giygas would destroy the world and that me and three other kids would be able to stop him."

"That sounds a little dangerous for four kids to do alone..." said Itoh, a colleague and good friend of Momorin.

Ness nodded. "It seemed pretty daunting at the time too. Buzz Buzz gave me this stone and said that I had to go find eight sanctuary locations that would harmonize my power with the earth so that I could stop Giygas," he continued. "So I began my journey. Along the way, I came across this town that was being controlled by this cult called the Happy Happyists. I met Paula there. They were holding her captive and were hypnotizing the townspeople to follow their leader. Paula gave me this Franklin Badge to defeat him though and I was able to save the town. After that..."

Ness continued to tell the story of his journey. He told of how he had to save Threed from a hoard of zombies. How he went to Moonside to rescue Paula. How he and his friends went to Summers and Winters. How they defeated countless monsters working for Giygas as they searched for the sanctuaries. He told them of how Pokey had betrayed them. Of how he had traveled from place to place working with whatever person was trying to do evil in Giygas's name. And how he had tried to hinder Ness and his friends whenever he could.

Throughout the story, Sue and Curly would interject and ask about how they had accomplished certain things and Ness had to keep going back and retelling parts of the story in order to be clear. Professor Booster and Sue's brother Kazuma kept asking about Jeff's inventions and Ness had to stop so Jeff could explain them. Momorin even managed to get Poo to explain Dalaam's culture. Everyone was asking questions at once until it was impossible to tell at what point they were in the story. Quote only asked one, simple question, "How did you defeat Giygas?"

Everyone stopped. They all turned back to Ness.

"We prayed for the help of everyone on earth," he said.

Quote nodded.

"So if you defeated him, then why are you all here?" he asked. Ness paused.

"I don't know," he said, "One moment it seemed like we were about to win, then suddenly, we all blacked out. The next thing we knew, we woke up here."

Quote looked to Curly.

"We found all of you lying in a forest. You all looked hurt and we couldn't just leave you there," Curly said, "We wouldn't be very good robots if we didn't help you..."

Ness' heart nearly stopped.

"Wait a minute, you two are robots?" exclaimed Ness.

"That's right," she replied. "We're both armed scout robots from the island siege. We were built and sent to the island to destroy an artifact known as the Demon Crown before it fell into the wrong hands."

Ness and his friends looked at each other.

"Um...would you mind starting from the beginning?" he asked.

"Alright. It all started thirteen years ago," began Curly, "Hundreds of scout robots like us were sent to the floating island to find the Demon Crown."

Something she had said struck a chord in Ness' mind.

_'_..._the floating island_..._'_

"Wait a minute," interrupted Ness, "Did you say floating island?"

"Yes," she replied, "Why?"

"I had a dream about a floating island while I was asleep."

"Really? What happened in it."

"Not very much. I was standing in a field and I saw the island above me. The next thing I knew, the island was falling. Then I woke up."

"Hmm..." Curly stared straight at Ness with an interested look planted on her face. The stare lasted only a mere second before she turned to face the others and continue speaking.

"Maybe we should move on. Anyway, Quote and I were different from the other robots. We had been sent to destroy the crown before it fell into the wrong hands. We got there too late however, the island was in shambles, and countless mimigas had been killed."

"Hold on. What's a mimiga?" asked Jeff.

"Mimigas are rabbit-like creatures that live on the island," explained Curly, "They're very peaceful and kind beings, kind of like your Mr. Saturns."

"Oh."

"Well anyway, the island had been torn apart in the fighting until one man got the Demon Crown in his possession. He then used the crowns power to enslave the mimigas and attempted to use them as weapons to take over the world."

"How exactly would he do that?" asked Ness, "You said yourself that mimigas are harmless."

"That's true, unless they eat red flowers."

"And what happens when they eat red flowers?"

Curly paused a second before she let the words come from her lips.

"They become terrible monsters that will kill anything in sight."

The whole room grew silent.

"So," Ness started, snapping everyone back to attention, "What happened next?"

"Quote and I tried to stop him. I don't know if we succeeded or not though. We were separated and I was knocked out. When I woke up, I found myself surrounded by a bunch of mimiga children. I couldn't remember anything, so I decided to stay and care for those children."

"What happened to you, Quote?" asked Paula.

The humanoid robot sighed before responding, trying to keep the resentment out of his voice as he spoke.

"I was...unconscious for ten years," he said, "I...woke up in small cave with no memories at all. I couldn't even remember my own name."

"Oh my," said Paula, "So what happened during those ten years?"

"Nothing much really," said Curly, "Actually, it wasn't until the Sakamotos showed up that things started happening."

"What were you all doing there anyway?" inquired Ness.

"Well, it started like this," began Sue, "Mom, Itoh, and Booster were all given a chance to go up to the island and do research on the plants and animals and things up there. We were about ready to leave for the trip when _he_ showed up."

"Who was he?" asked Ness.

"The Doctor," replied Sue grimly.

"The Doctor?" repeated Ness.

"Doctor Fuyuhiko Date," answered Momorin, "He was our... doctor. He tended to our medical needs and such, but the real reason he joined us was so he could get his hands on the Demon Crown."

"Yeah," continued Sue, "He used the crown's power to try and control the mimigas just as before. He had two servants who worked for him after he found it. There was a witch named Misery and a large box-like thing named Balrog. He used his new power to terrorize the mimigas and trick them into thinking another attack from the surface was coming and that the only way they could save themselves was to use the red flowers. He wanted to use the island as a base so he could launch his own attack on earth using the enraged mimigas as weapons. When we tried to oppose him, he had Misery turn Itoh and me into mimigas and he threw Booster and Kazuma into prison! Mom kept working with him while secretly trying to hinder his plans, but when he had no more use for her he threw her off the island!"

"Oh my God!" exclaimed Paula.

"How did you survive?" asked Poo.

"Well, luckily the Doctor didn't have a good throwing arm and I landed on a ledge a few feet below," explained Momorin.

"So what happened next?" asked Ness.

"I tried to escape using a teleporter," said Kazuma, "But I got stuck in a safe house in Grasstown and couldn't get out. I tried to contact someone using the computer, but I got no response."

"And that's when I woke up," said Quote, "I think it may have been Kazuma's transmission, but whatever it was, I woke up and tried to escape the cave. I then found my way into the Mimiga Village where I met King and Toroko," Quote's tone grew sad at the memory of the former companions, "Balrog and Misery showed up and kidnapped Toroko, thinking she was Sue. I went to the Egg Corridor to find Sue myself so I could help Toroko. But when we came back, King had Sue thrown in jail, thinking that she was responsible for Toroko's kidnapping."

"Lucky I was able to get in contact with Kazuma first," picked up Sue, "I told Quote to go to Grasstown to find him."

"And a good thing that he did find me," piped in Kazuma, "I was starving. Anyway, when Quote showed up, the teleporter began working again and Booster came through."

"And it wasn't easy to get that thing working," interjected Booster, "The machine was half broken and I had to fix it with almost nothing."

"I think we're getting off track," interrupted Sue, "So Quote, Kazuma, and Booster came back while I was convincing the other mimigas about the Doctor's plans. According to Booster though, the Doctor had found out about the flowers and was looking for them."

"So while the others were looking for a means of escape," continued Quote, "I went to the Sand Zone to destroy the red flower seeds before the doctor could get them."

"That's where he met me," chipped in Curly, "I thought he had come to kill the other mimigas and we ended up getting into a little fight."

"I was able to convince her that I wasn't there to harm the mimigas though and she told me about an old woman named Jenka who might know about the red flower seeds. I went to find her, and when I did, she refused to give me the key to the red flower store house, saying that it would be a tragedy if those flowers were ever brought out. Before I could convince her though, Balrog showed up and stole the key."

Quote could already feel the tears welling up in the corner of his eyes as he spoke.

Ness could feel the internal turmoil emanating from deep within the android.

"I followed him to the storehouse so I could stop them. King got there before me, but he was too late as well. The Doctor had already taken the flowers and had tested them on Toroko. He shot King with lightening and had Toroko attack me,"

Quote's voice quavered as the words tumbled from his lips.

"I... had to kill her to make her stop...And...King didn't survive the Doctor's attack..."

Ness and his friends were shocked.

"How could someone do something so terrible?" cried Paula. Ness, who was standing closest to her, could see the tears forming in her eyes.

"The Doctor was a monster. An absolute demon," said Sue, "He was an evil man before, but the crown made him like an incarnation of evil itself."

_'Like a human version of Giygas,'_ thought Ness. The thought severely unsettled him.

Quote dried his eyes on his sleeve as Paula did likewise on her own sleeve.

"I went to go back and warn everyone but I was ambushed by Misery and Balrog," Quote continued, his voice returning to its usual sound of confidence, "Misery sent both Balrog and I to the Labyrinth, the trash heap of the island."

"She threw me down there too," put in Curly, "She kidnapped the children and then tossed me out like an old toy."

"It was almost lucky though," Quote continued, "We teamed up to try and find a way out of the Labyrinth. While we searched though, we came upon this base in the middle of the Labyrinth. It was the storeroom for the island's core. The core was a giant creature that kept the island floating in the sky. Curly and I didn't know it at the time and when the core attacked us, we thought that it was just another monster and we nearly killed it. Misery and the Doctor showed up at the last second and teleported the core away to repair it. But the room flooded and I nearly drowned. Curly saved me by giving me her air tank, but she became flooded instead. I couldn't leave her there, so I carried her out on my back. We eventually fell into a waterway and I was able to find a small rest house where I was able to drain Curly."

"Which I'm still extremely grateful for," piped in Curly. She smiled warmly at Quote. He smiled back and then continued his narration.

"We continued through the waterway until we were attacked by a giant fish. Curly and I got separated and I blacked out. When I woke up, I was in the Mimiga Village Reservoir. The entire village was deserted though. It turns out the Doctor had come and taken them all to a plantation to grow red flowers. Booster was the only one left. He gave me a jetpack he designed and told me to go help the others."

"By the way," interrupted Booster, "Remind me to take a look at it later. You said it needed fixing."

"Oh yeah...right. Thanks. Anyway, Kazuma left me a message saying to go to the Egg Corridor. When I got there, though, the place was in shambles. I was able to make my way to the hatching chamber where Kazuma was waiting with a Sky Dragon. He offered me a chance to escape the island with him, but I refused."

Everyone glanced at Kazuma who turned away, still embarrassed at the memory of his cowardice.

"He told me, though, that the mimigas might be returned to normal if I destroyed the core," Quote quickly continued, not letting the awkward moment persist. "I made my way up the side of the island and into the plantation. I found Itoh hiding in a storeroom there. I was caught though and thrown in jail."

"They knocked you out good before sending you there," Sue cut in, "I couldn't wake him up so I left him a note, explaining the Doctor's plan and how to find my mom."

"I had to search for a while," Quote resumed, "I eventually found her. She told me she was working on a rocket to reach the Doctor's lair. She had me go and find the last things she needed to finish it. As I went to find the pieces for her, I ran into Curly again. She had lost her memory though and couldn't recognize me. The being that saved her, Cthulhu, said that there was a mushroom that could restore memory loss. I took a while to find but I eventually got it and fed it to Curly."

"It tasted disgusting by the way," she interrupted.

"I then continued to find parts for Momorin's rocket," Quote continued, "But by the time she finished it, the Doctor had gathered all the mimigas together to begin the invasion. I used the rocket to get to the Doctor's lair, and only Misery stood between me and the Doctor himself. I was able to defeat her and I then went to confront the Doctor. When I got there though, he revealed his secret weapon. He had extracted the essence of the red flowers and had concentrated it into a Red Crystal. Not only could it transform mimigas, but the Red Crystal could work on humans too. He then used it on himself and gained incredible power. I defeated him and his body dissolved into red mist. I then went on to save Sue and destroy the core. Misery had a backup plan, however, and threatened to hurt Sue if I didn't leave the island immediately. But the Doctor wasn't done yet. He returned as a red swirling cloud and possessed the core. He then used his power to turn Misery and Sue into monsters and sent them after me. I was able to stop him and destroy the core, but the island began to fall out of the sky. Sue and I ran to escape the collapsing lair but I fell down a hole. The first thing I saw down there was a sign that said 'Welcome to Hell'."

"I was there too," said Curly, "I don't know how I got there but somehow I had fallen into Hell as well, and broke my legs."

"Since Curly couldn't walk," Quote said, "I had to carry her again. We fought our way through Hell until we were confronted by a spirit of a dog. It told us that the reason the island was falling was because Jenka's brother, a sorcerer named Ballos. Ballos had once helped the people of the land and was loved by them in return. But the king of that land grew jealous and had Ballos thrown in prison. They tortured him mercilessly until he couldn't take it anymore and let his powers run wild. He destroyed the jealous king, the people he cared for, his own family, and the entire kingdom. Jenka sealed him inside the floating island to keep the world safe from his out of control magic. Misery had made Ballos create the Demon Crown but she and Balrog had been enslaved by it's magic, and even if the crown was destroyed, it would only return as long as Ballos lived. Curly and I confronted Ballos. He begged us to kill him, as his powers would not let him die. We tried,but his own power fought back. We were nearly killed, but we finally defeated him and the island stopped falling. The room started closing in on us and we were nearly crushed. Balrog saved us at the last minute though."

"Balrog saved you?" asked Ness.

"Yeah," said Curly, "He and Misery weren't under the crown's spell anymore. It turns out they were grateful and saved us in return for freeing them. And I guess that sums up everything."

"Wow," said Paula after a long pause, "That was quite a story."

"No kidding," agreed Jeff.

"So the island is still up there?" asked Ness

"Yes," answered Quote.

"Okay," said Ness. He leaned back. "It's kinda hard to imagine that other people go through adventures like these and can still come back alive. I sometimes wondered if my own adventure was a dream at times, that I would one day wake up at home and nothing had changed."

Kazuma suddenly looked up. "You know something that I just realized?" he said.

"What?" asked Sue.

"You guys said you came here during your fight with Giygas, right? Well, what if Giygas came too?"

Ness and his friends paled visibly.

"Then...we're in a lot of trouble," he said with an air of finality.

**=====0======0=======0========0========0=========0**

Pokey walked slowly away from his damaged spider mech.

"Stupid thing, running out of power," he muttered, "Where the hell am I, anyway?" Pokey was in the middle of a large forest, and he was completely alone...

Or so he thought.

"We're in a forest," came a cold voice from the shadows, "I thought it was obvious."

"Where are you?" Pokey yelled at the trees in fear, "Come out!"

A tall creature with pale skin and red eyes walked out into the open.

"Who are you?" asked Pokey, panic creeping into his voice. His spider mech was out of power and he couldn't throw a decent punch to save his life. The creature simply smiled at him.

"You don't recognize me?" it said, "I am Master Giygas."


	3. Friends of Fortune

"Would you mind telling me where we are going, exactly?" whined Pokey as he strode after the tall figure that floated ahead of him. They had been traveling for hours and Pokey, being of the not-so-athletic type, was struggling to keep up with his master.

"We are nearly there," said Giygas impatiently, "Stop complaining."

"You said that half an hour ago, and that still doesn't tell me where we are going," cried Pokey, exasperated. He was starting to regret leaving his spider mech behind, but it wouldn't be any use without power.

_'I will have to remember to retrieve it,'_ he thought to himself, _'The phase distorter is still there and I might need it later.'_

The forest suddenly disappeared around them as they entered an open field. Giygas stopped.

"We're here," he stated.

"Good," Pokey wheezed, "And where is here, exactly?" He looked around and saw nothing.

"You're looking in the wrong place," Giygas calmly responded. He motioned upwards with his head. Pokey looked up and his mouth dropped. He was staring up at a massive floating island.

"And how are we supposed to get up there?" he asked, dread filling his voice.

Giygas smirked, "We fly, obviously."

"What's that supposed to meeeeeeeeeeaaannnn!" Pokey yelled as he found himself floating upwards with great speed. Pokey screamed as he sped upwards. Giygas floated up calmly beside him.

"Stop yelling," he instructed, his tone uncompromising. Pokey shut his mouth. Better to be scared out of your wits than dead. The two continued their rapid ascent towards the island, the anticipation within Giygas building with their climb. A wide smile grew on his face.

_'It's close,'_ he thought, _'I can feel it.'_

**====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====**

Ness walked outside. After Quote had finished his story, everyone had split into groups and gone off together. Jeff had joined Professor Booster and Kazuma in the lab while Paula had gone off with Sue and Curly to discuss "girl talk," whatever that was, and Poo was showing Momorin how to meditate.

"The best way to understand a culture is to experience it first hand," she had said.

This left Ness pretty much alone. He then noticed Quote standing alone on a hill. He had some kind of sword in his hand. After a moment, Quote raised his blade and then went through a series of complex maneuvers, cutting and hacking invisible enemies. Over the years, Quote had practiced with the blade almost daily, becoming an incredible swordsman. Ness watched him for a little while and then approached Quote after he had finished a remarkable combination.

"I didn't know you knew how to use a sword," Ness stated. Quote stopped and looked at him.

"So," started Ness, growing uncomfortable under Quote's stare, "Where did you get that blade?" Quote turned away. His shoulders started shaking. Ness started to get nervous.

"If it's a sensitive subject..." Ness began.

"It used to belong to King," interrupted Quote, "He gave it to me before he died."

"Oh," said Ness hastily, "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"No. It's alright," Quote replied quietly, "How could you have known if I didn't tell you?"

They stood in silence for a moment.

"So how good are you with that bat?" asked Quote. Ness smiled.

"The best," he replied.

"Care to back that up?" challenged Quote, a smile beginning to form on his face. Ness's own smile grew.

"Sure thing," he said, "It's been a while since I last sparred with someone."

"Well," replied Quote, "You've never sparred with anyone like me."

The two took up battle positions.

"You ready?" asked Quote.

"The real question is, are you?" Ness responded.

Quote smirked.

"Then let's get on with it," he said.

**====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====**

Giygas floated into a large dark room, Pokey at his heels.

"This is it," Giygas declared.

"Great," said Pokey, "What is it?"

Giygas ignored him and reached his hand up towards the ceiling. Down from the darkness floated a large red crystal. It hovered above Giygas's palm.

_'There is great power in this crystal,'_ he thought, _' Power. And... A presence?'_ Giygas peered deep into the crystal.

"What is that thing?" asked Pokey. Giygas continued to ignore him as he scrutinized the gem. Deep in the heart of the jewel, he saw the silhouette of a man.

_'Who are you?'_ Giygas thought as he examined the being. The being turned its head towards Giygas.

_'Well,'_ thought Giygas, _'Let's bring you out and see.'_ Giygas let the crystal float away from him. He then raised his hand towards it and focused.

"What are you doing?" asked Pokey, "What is that thing?" Giygas narrowed his eyes in concentration. The crystal began to shake and a red mist poured from it. It pooled on the floor and began to take shape. The smoke rose and formed into the shape of a person.

_'That can't be good,'_ thought Pokey, '_Whatever that is.'_

The shape darkened and gained more substance. Soon, it had formed into a complete person. Standing before Giygas and Pokey was a tall man in a white lab-coat and wearing reflective glasses, the crystal taking up an orbit around him.

"Well," he commented nonchalant, "That was rather unpleasant."

He turned his mirrored gaze towards the two. "I assume you brought me hear for a reason," he began, "So, let's have it. What do you want?"

"That's it?" Pokey exclaimed exasperated, "After all this walking and waiting this is all we came hear for? And since when can you bring people back to life? And on that note, if you have the power to bring someone back from the dead, how come you can't open a way back home for us?"

Giygas rounded on Pokey with a furious glare

"First," he began, "I did not bring him back from the dead, I gave his consciousness a physical form using the power of the crystal he was in. Second," he continued, his tone growing angrier, "Opening an inter-dimensional portal between universes takes a lot more power than giving an already existing consciousness a physical form. And third, _SILENCE YOURSELF BEFORE I HURL YOUR MIND INTO A PIT OF EVERLASTING DARKNESS AND TORMENT_!"

Pokey scrambled back fearfully away from Giygas, not daring to speak another word.

Giygas turned back towards the man. "To answer your question, your assistance would be appreciated regarding the current circumstances. I do believe introductions are in order first, if you wouldn't mind."

"I believe that you should be the ones to first introduce yourselves," the man calmly stated, "You did, after all, come seeking my assistance first."

Giygas smiled. The man had tact. "Very well," he replied, "I am Lord Giygas, the Universal Cosmic Destroyer."

The man nodded.

"And I am Master Pokey," said Pokey eagerly, stepping forward.

Nobody listened to him.

The man smiled. His grin sent shivers down Pokey's spine and even Giygas felt a slight apprehension. "My name," he began, "Is Doctor Fuyuhiko Date, and it is a very distinct pleasure to meet you."

**====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====**

Ness and Quote's sparring match had gained the attention of the others and several of them had gathered around to watch. Paula and Curly were each cheering for their men respectively while Sue was just happy to watch the brawl. Momorin and Poo were watching with interest and even Balrog had come to watch.

Ness came in swinging hard. Quote ducked and dodged weaving between Ness's attacks. First left, then right, then he ducked. Ness swung low. Quote jumped up and completely over Ness, landing behind him. In an instant, his blade was up and swinging for Ness. Ness brought his bat up to parry and was pushed back on his heels. Quote was quicker than Ness and soon had him moving backwards, flailing his bat in a desperate attempt to ward off Quote's offensive. Ness stumbled and fell backwards, landing on his rear with Quote standing above him.

"Had enough?" asked Quote.

"Best two out of three!" said Ness, picking up his bat. Quote helped Ness up and the two assumed battle stances.

This time Quote made the first move, coming in with a downward slash. Ness jumped back and quickly reposed, bringing his bat forwards as though lunging with a sword. The move caught Quote off guard and he brought his blade back to parry. The two locked for a moment before they both jumped back. They came back in fast and hard, Quote's blade ringing off of Ness's steel bat. They were dead even. Quote's blade was faster, but Ness had more force behind his bat. Ness then came in with a powerful swing that knocked Quote's blade clean out of his hands. It landed a few feet away and Quote was left weaponless. Ness smirked.

"One more time?" he asked. Quote smirked back.

"One last time," he said as he went to retrieve his blade.

The two faced each other, their weapons ready. They stood for a moment that seemed to stretch forever. Then, they began.

**====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====**

"So you need my help to reconstruct this 'Devil's Machine' of yours so you can restore your power and return to your reality, is that right?" the Doctor questioned. Giygas nodded.

"This is of great importance," Giygas stated, "We are in a vulnerable situation which must be remedied with haste. I hope your assistance won't be too much to ask in return for restoring your body."

The Doctor smiled. "It would be my pleasure," he said, "Though...I do ask for one more thing in return."

Giygas raised a nonexistent eyebrow. "And what," he queried, "would that be?"

"Revenge..." the Doctor said with venom, "Revenge against those who destroyed my body and cursed me to the hell of entrapment within my own creation!"

Giygas smiled, this would be easy. "It will be done," he said.

"You're not actually going to trust this guy, are you?" asked Pokey in disbelief. "This guy has liar written all over his face!"

"I trust you, don't I?" Giygas retorted.

That one silenced Pokey for a moment.

He turned back to the Doctor. "So," he continued, "Who are these people you so desperately want revenge on?"

The Doctor gave a chilling smile. "They aren't so much people as much as they are a witch, two robots, and a family that crossed the line."

**====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====**

"So, the intake unit directly feeds into the thruster?" asked Jeff.

"Correct," said Booster, "The direct feed provides the most efficient thrust capability while still powering the Booster." Jeff was working with Professor Booster on the repairs to the Booster 2.0 and was eagerly absorbing the knowledge like a sponge. They had even managed to improve some of the additional features and were well on the way to building the next generation of Boosters.

"Then if we place the filter here," Jeff continued, pointing to a spot on a cross-section of the jetpack, "We can improve the overall power consumption per use and provide superior flow control."

"By George, you right!" exclaimed Booster excitedly. "And to think the answer was right in front of me this whole time."

Suddenly, there was a large bang outside.

"What was that?" said Kazuma. The three of them rushed outside.

It turned out that Ness and Quote's sparring match had gotten a little bit out of hand.

Quote had backed Ness into a corner and Ness had resorted to using his PSI. The blast from his PK Rockin' had knocked Quote off his feet and left a small crater in the ground. Quote got up and responded by bringing out his Spur and firing a blast that took Ness full in the chest. Ness came back and charged Quote. The two locked together again and quickly pushed off. Ness then began building up for another PK Rockin'. Quote brought his spur back up and fired again. Ness released his attack just before the blast from Quote's Spur knocked him down. Quote took the full force of the attack and fell backwards. Both of then lay on the ground, neither moving.

"Ness!" cried Paula as she rushed towards him. Curly and Sue were already making for Quote. Momorin was about to step in and help when Poo raised his arm to stop her.

"They are both fine," he said calm and collected, "They are strong and have suffered far worse than this."

He was proved right when Ness suddenly sat up laughing.

"Okay," he said grinning, "We'll call it a draw."

Quote sat up smiling. "Deal," he replied. Everyone else started laughing.

Everyone except Paula.

She smacked Ness full-on with the frying pan.

"That was boneheaded, Ness!" she scolded angrily, "You know you just can't throw PSI around like that!"

"It's alright Paula," Ness replied, blinking non-existent stars out of his eyes, "It was just sparring."

"No, it's not alright!" she retorted, "Quote doesn't have PSI, you could have seriously hurt him. This isn't like one of your sparring matches with Poo where you can both just heal yourselves afterwards. What if you had really hurt Quote or accidentally hit someone else? You should know better than that!"

She was right and they both knew it. Ness had gotten carried away.

Ness sighed. "You're right Paula, I should have been more careful. Quote, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"Don't worry about it," replied Quote, "If anything, I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn't have used the Spur on you like that."

Ness smiled at him. "Okay," he said, "We both made mistakes. Let's just call it even and promise not to do this to each other again."

"Alright," Quote agreed. He helped Ness up. "Let's head back inside, it's starting to get late." They all made their way back to the house.

"Wait a moment," said Jeff, "I forgot something in the lab. Don't wait for me, I'll be back." Everyone else moved on as Jeff headed for the lab.

The lab was in a separate building just below the rest of the Sakamotos' place. This was so, in case an accident occurred, the rest of the house wouldn't be damaged and so that anyone hurt would be close to the medical ward in case of an emergency.

"There you are," said Jeff as he picked up a protractor off one of the desks. Tony had given Jeff the protractor before he left Snow Wood and he carried it with him everywhere. Suddenly, the computer on the desk flashed. Jeff looked at the screen. Words began to scroll across it.

"SOS! SOS! HELP!" the words flashed in bright red letters.

Jeff raced out of the building and rushed towards the house.

He burst into the main room.

"Guys, quick! Help!" Jeff yelled as he ran in. Everyone dropped what they were doing to look at Jeff.

"What is it? What happened?" Kazuma asked.

"I was in the lab, looking for my pen," Jeff stammered, "When the computer lit up! An SOS message started scrolling across it. I think someone might be in trouble!" Everyone got up and headed towards the lab. When they got there, the message had finished and was left flashing on the monitor.

"SOS! SOS! HELP!" the message read, "VILLAGE UNDER ATTACK! MONSTERS EVERYWHERE! SPIDER ROBOT LEADING THEM! HELP!" The message repeated on the screen a few times before suddenly stopping in the middle.

"What does that mean?" asked Ness.

"It means," began Kazuma, "That the mimigas are in trouble again. Jack is the only one who knows how to reach this computer. It must be bad if it just cuts off like that," he finished solemnly.

"We have to help them," said Quote.

"He's right," agreed Kazuma, "But we'll need time to get the chopper ready. If we work through the night though, we can be ready to go by morning."

"Sounds good," Quote agreed. "Let's do this."

"Wait just a minute!" Curly exclaimed.

Everyone else turned to face her.

"What are Ness and his friends going to do while we deal with this?" she asked.

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"Well..." started Momorin "I guess I could stay here and look after them while you guys handle the situation..."

"Mom..." Sue interjected. "You know more about the floating island than the rest of us. You did work at the Doctor's side, after all."

"Besides," she stated firmly "We're a family. We're supposed to do this together. You know it's what Dad would have wanted." She crossed her arms and looked at her mother with a penetrating stare.

Momorin had to suppress a grin. Her daughter was growing up so quickly...

Ness stepped forward and cleared his throat.

He looked at Paula, Jeff and Poo. They simply looked back at him knowing what was coming next.

"Well..." he began, not exactly sure how to word what he wanted to say. "If...if it's all the same to you... we could come along and help you guys out."

"This could potentially be very dangerous." Booster interjected firmly. "There's no reason for you four to put your lives on the line for people you barely even know. You don't owe anything to us."

"No. We do owe you something," Ness responded "You saved our lives. Helping you guys out is the least we can do to repay all that you've done for us."

"And if I recall correctly..." Quote said, facing Booster with an air of defiance, "You originally asked me for help back on the island even though you barely knew me."

That quashed any further arguments from Booster.

"Besides..." said Jeff, placing his arms around the shoulders of his three companions, "We're used to danger. Hell, I broke out of my school to go to a country I'd never been to to save people I'd never met from a hoard of zombies!"

"Yeah," Paula stated confidently, taking Jeff's lead, "We can pretty much handle anything thrown our way."

Poo just nodded in silence.

"Then it's settled," said Sue excitedly, clasping her hands, "Let's go."

"I just have one question," began Ness, "How are we all going to fit in one helicopter?"

"I think I have an idea!" boomed a voice from outside. Everyone turned to the window to see Balrog standing outside, being to big to fit through the doors. He had been listening to the conversation and had chosen now to speak up.

"Yes, Balrog? What is it?" Momorin asked, kindly.

"Well," he stated, matter-of-factly, "I can carry Quote and Curly on my back, as usual. Kazuma can take Sue and Booster with him on his pet Sky Dragon. That should leave you, Itoh, and Ness and his friends which makes six: the maximum occupancy of the chopper."

Everyone was shocked into silence by Balrog's hitherto unknown comprehensive math prowess.

"I guess that settles that problem then," Momorin confirmed.

Ness and his friends looked at one another confusedly. Ness turned to Kazuma.

"Uh... sky dragon?" He asked simply.

Kazuma grinned broadly and simply stated, "You four had better follow me."

Kazuma led Ness and his friends around the side of the main house to a pen with a large green lizard-like creature sat. The beast perked its head up as they approached and let out a small shriek of joy at seeing Kazuma.

"Ness, everyone, I'd like you all to meet Zhu-Zhu," Kazuma introduced, proceeding to scratch Zhu-Zhu under the chin, to which the dragon purred contentedly.

"He named it after his favorite anime," Sue whispered to Ness. Ness had to suppress a giggle when he heard that.

Everyone else had gone behind the lab to a large warehouse to find the chopper. The helicopter hadn't been used for over a year and had fallen into disrepair. The rotters were rusted, the cockpit was caked in grime, and the fuselage was full of dust.

Booster shook his head. "This is going to take more work than we thought," sighed.

Kazuma and the others joined the rest at the warehouse. When he saw the state of the chopper, he immediately took charge.

"Alright," he stated, "This thing won't get ready by itself. Booster, Itoh, Jeff, I want you to help me reset the cockpit controls, they're bound to be in bad shape. Quote and Curly, I want you to bring Balrog back here so he can push this thing outside, we can't take off in the warehouse. Mom, you and the others need to clean the rotters, the chopper won't fly if the rotters won't turn. Let's go!"

Though stunned at Kazuma's sudden outburst, the others immediately settled in to their work. The work was long and meticulous. Everyone took periodic breaks to rest up. They eventually settled into a shift-system in that when one group would sleep, the others would be working. Morning came, and the sun was already high in the sky when the chopper was finally ready for takeoff.

Ness and his friends boarded the helicopter with Itoh and Momorin. Quote and Curly climbed up on Balrog and Kazuma, Booster, and Sue all got on Zhu-Zhu.

"Alright Zhu-Zhu," said Kazuma, "Let's fly!" The Sky Dragon leapt into the air and began flapping its wings.

"HUZZAH!" shouted Balrog as he jumped into the air with tremendous force, Quote and Curly holding on for dear life.

Ness stared in shock at the small crater Balrog had left when he jumped. "I sure don't want to be standing near him when he takes off," he said.

"I don't want to be underneath him when he lands," snapped Jeff. Ness chuckled.

The choppers blades began to whorl and soon, the helicopter had joined the others in the air.

"I have the coordinates," said Itoh, "We need to head North by Northwest." The helicopter turned and began to fly off, Zhu-Zhu and Balrog following.

Ness looked out of the choppers rear window.

_'I wonder what's waiting for us on the floating island,'_ he thought to himself as he watched the Sakamoto compound fade into the distance before vanishing amongst the trees.


	4. Strange Times and Stranger Foes

**Author's Note: Hello faithful readers. It's me, the author, the guy who writes this story but has been neglecting to put in author's notes. Well, from now on, I will be leaving author's notes with my chapters. This chapter is the one that most of you have been waiting for, the action chapter. Consider this a late Christmas present to you all. Enjoy.**

**P.S. I'm a man of few words, so don't expect much from these author's notes.**

**====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====**

_'I love the smell of burning wood, it reminds me of campfires, and all the stupid useless toys I would throw into the fire,'_ "Heh heh heh," Pokey chuckled to himself.

After Giygas had brought his spider mech to the island, Pokey had proceeded to what the Doctor had called the Mimiga Village with an army of monsters at his heels. The upper part of the village extended from the mouth of a large cave into a small wooded valley on the surface of the island, and it was the first part that began burning. Monsters were running in the streets, destroying everything in sight. Pokey's mech marched on, using its full arsenal to effect on the wood and stone buildings, reducing them to smoke and rubble in minutes.

_'As fun as this is though,'_ he mused, _'It seems like a waste of my talents. Burning a village is grunt work. I should be the one standing on a hill commanding an army, not directing a band of monsters in a raid.'_

He gritted his teeth. Ever since the Doctor had shown up, Pokey felt like he had been shoved completely out of the picture. He used to be Giygas's right hand man. Now he seemed to be no more than a lowly soldier.

_'An army,'_ he continued, _'My army. Those jerks don't know who they're messing with. One day, I'll have my own army, and then everyone will respect me. Me! Pokey Minch!'_ his face twisted into a mad grin. _'I won't be just master Pokey. I'll be King Pokey. The magnificent King P! Everyone will love me. They'll all be my favorite little toys. And when I'm tired of playing with them, I'll throw them into the fire too! Ha ha ha ha ha!'_ "Ha ha ha ha ha!" Pokey cackled maniacally as he continued to burn through the village.

The rabbit-like mimigas had been putting up a valiant resistance, but they were simply no match for Pokey's machine. They kept retreating to regroup, using guerrilla tactics to try and stop the monsters when they could. One mimiga in particular was putting up a good fight. He was tall for a mimiga and was wearing what looked like a blue long-coat. He had a short sword and was hacking away at monsters without mercy. Pokey narrowed his focus on him.

_'Looks like we've got a real fighter here,'_ he thought, _'I wonder if he'll still put up a fight with all his fur burned off!'_ Pokey stretched his face into a grim smile as he prepared to send the fighting mimiga into the great beyond.

Suddenly, a small blip lit up Pokey's radar. He turned his attention to one of his mech's monitors. There were two, no, three objects heading for the island with great speed. Pokey activated his mech's communicator.

"I hope you guys are ready," he spoke clearly into the comm, "Because it looks like we've got company."

**====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====**

Ness and his friends stared out the chopper window. The massive floating island was indeed an incredible sight, with an ancient-looking monument overlooking an expansive valley running deep across the surface of the island. They all gasped audibly as they saw billowing smoke rising from the surface of the island. Momorin inhaled deeply and turned on the helicopter's radio.

"Are you guys seeing this?" she asked.

"Yes, I see it," replied Quote, using his antennae to tap into the radio frequency, "But what do you think it is?"

"I don't know, but we'll find out soon enough. We're going in," Momorin finished as she maneuvered the helicopter towards the island's surface. As they looked for a landing spot, they passed over the village. It was in ruins beneath them. There wasn't a single building that hadn't been at least partially burned and the buildings that were still burning continued to pour smoke into the sky.

Ness looked down at the destruction as they passed over, his brow furrowed in thought. He had been thinking about what Kazuma had said the day before, about Giygas coming to this world with them, and with this sudden emergency, he couldn't shake the feeling that Giygas was involved. The spider robot that Jack had mentioned in the distress call sounded eerily like Pokey's spider mech, and Ness could imagine Pokey leading an army of monsters into the village to carry out Giygas's will.

_'But what does he want?'_ Ness thought, _'Why is this village so important? What does this all mean?'_ These questions and others buzzed around his head like mad bees as they descended.

The helicopter touched down in a clearing outside of the village, Balrog and Zhu-Zhu landing on either side of it. Everyone disembarked from their respective methods of transport and began to make their way towards the village. Quote and Curly took off running with Ness and his friends at their heels. Sue hurried after them as Balrog struggled to keep up. Momorin, Itoh, and Booster followed more slowly, not wanting to be in the way of the imminent fighting, while Kazuma tried to coax Zhu-Zhu towards the village, intent on not being left on the sidelines.

_'I'm not going to let myself be a coward this time,'_ he thought to himself as he led Zhu-Zhu forwards.

**====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====**

Quote reached the village first and was quickly taken aback by the destruction. Power critters and drolls were smashing through buildings while dragon zombies torched what was left. None of these monsters lived on the island's surface, and Quote didn't even want to know why the dragon zombies were there. He was more concerned about the drolls, the earthen golems that once served the Doctor. Quote thought that they had all been destroyed when the Doctor had died. Apparently, he was wrong. He didn't see any mimigas though, and he let out a sigh of relief at that.

_'They must have retreated further into the village,'_ he thought. He pulled out his Spur, took aim at the nearest monster, and opened fire.

Curly burst out of the trees behind him, her machinegun already in hand. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the village. Her thoughts instantly traveled to the Colons, the mimiga children who she had spent ten years with in the Sand Zone. After the whole affair with the Doctor, Curly had decided to let them live in the village with the other mimigas since she wouldn't be around to take care of them. The motherly instincts she had developed in the Sand Zone reared forth, and like a mother bear protecting her cubs, Curly flew into a mad rage, charging into the burning village with a cry of pure righteous fury and blasting any monster that stood in her way. She rushed past Quote altogether and barreled into the cave that led to the main village, hell-bent on finding her children.

_'Woe to any monster that gets between her and her children,'_ thought Quote as he hurried after her.

**====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====**

Ness and his friends broke through the trees surrounding the village. They too stopped as they saw the destruction before them. They had all seen terrible things at the hands of Giygas, but few things are more shocking than seeing a village burning before your eyes. Sue was right behind them. She only stopped for a moment though before proceeding to send a flying kick straight into the nearest droll, crushing its face and laying it flat on its back. Ness and the others took her lead and jumped into the fray. The monsters had now taken notice of the children and moved to destroy them as they had done with many of the mimiga defenders. Unlike the mimigas, however, these children had power that could level buildings, and they proceeded to let it loose on the approaching monsters. Ness swung his bat right into the head of one of the dragon zombies knocking it of its feet and then turned and let loose a PK Rockin at an approaching power critter. Jeff pull out his Gaia Beam and fired it into the chest of a droll, nearly splitting the golem in two. Poo unsheathed his Sword of Kings and decapitated a zombie dragon as it tried to bite off his head. Paula returned another dragon zombies fire with a PK Fire attack of her own, incinerating the creature and leaving a burning husk behind. Sue was throwing punches and kicks at any monster that came near her as she made her way deeper into the village.

Ness looked at the carnage around him. He had never been in a real battle before. Granted, he had gotten into fights with monsters before, but he had never been surrounded by this much fighting. He needed a moment to take stock, to figure out what was happening. Suddenly, Ness noticed a large shadow growing around him. He looked up and saw another power critter about to smash him into the ground. Ness jumped out from beneath the falling monster and got back into a battle position. Suddenly, he saw an even larger shadow around the power critter. As the monster prepared to leap into the air once more, a booming voice filled the air.

"HUZZAH!" shouted Balrog as he came down on top of the power critter, crushing it beneath his bulk. "You alright, Ness?" Balrog asked.

Ness turned towards the living cube. "Yeah," he replied, "I'm okay."

Balrog smiled. "You'd better keep your head up, those power critters will crush you if your not looking. I gotta go. HUZZAH!" he shouted as he jumped back into the fight.

Ness watched him as he rejoined the fight. As he watched him go, he saw Paula get chased into a building by a pair of dragon zombies. All of Ness's exhaustion went out the window as he charged into the building after them.

**====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====**

Pokey's mech rumbled through the main village as he searched for the mimiga dressed in blue. He had lost track of the mimiga when he had contacted the others and was now on the hunt for the elusive warrior. He crashed through a building and began firing missiles off in random directions hoping to draw the warrior out. He then saw a group of four young mimigas running circles around a droll as it struggled to catch the agile creatures.

_'Heroes always help those in trouble, and these four look like the perfect bait,'_ he thought. He steered his mech in the direction of the mimiga kids and prepared to open fire.

What happened next would haunt Pokey's nightmares for years to come. As he began bearing down on the four children, a blond screaming teenager with a very big gun came running in from the mouth of the cave. Pokey turned in her direction and was greeted by a hail of machinegun fire. His machine was pushed backwards as he struggled to regain control. When he finally righted the mech, he found himself staring at the most dangerous thing in the universe: an angry mother who's children were in danger.

"Don't you _dare_ lay a hand on my kids!" she screeched at him.

Pokey had seen a lot of scary things in his young life, including a deformed and insane Giygas, and none of it compared to the unbridled fury radiating from this girl. Pokey nearly wet his pants. Before he could embarrass himself in such a manner, several missiles slammed into the side of his mech, nearly knocking him over. After righting his mech for the second time, he turned to see a dark-haired teenager holding a large missile launcher over his shoulder. Pokey then noticed that both teenagers had unnaturally pale skin.

_'So these must be the little scout robots the Doctor talked about,'_ Pokey mused.

"Alright then, little toys," he said to the two robots, "You certainly caught me off guard for a second there." He chuckled.

"Heh. Now it's my turn, toys. Let's play!"

Pokey quickly fired off several missiles at the boy robot, who skillfully jumped clean over his mech and then fired several shots from a laser gun at the mech's legs. The girl robot followed up with a barrage from her machinegun, sending Pokey's mech crashing to the ground.

"That's Curly Brace and Quote to you, fatty!" screamed the blond, "And you're out of your league! If you know what's good for you, you'll get your fat ass off this island before we kick you off it ourselves!"

"Did you just call me fat?" said Pokey in disbelief. His hands started shaking. "_No one_ calls Pokey Minch _FAT_!" he yelled furiously. He brought his mech back up and charged at Curly, hell-bent on crushing her out of existence.

**====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====**

Poo was surrounded. Three drolls had cornered him against a building and were closing in for the kill. Poo stood ready, prepared to resort to his strongest of PSI powers if need be.

"Hey Poo," called Jeff. Poo and all three drolls turned in Jeff's direction to see the boy preparing to launch a multi bottle rocket. "Heads up!" Jeff yelled as he launched the rocket. As the rocket took off, Poo ducked between the legs of one of the drolls and ran. The multi bottle rocket separated into several bottle rockets which all came down on top of the drolls, completely destroying them.

"Thank you, Jeff," Poo said.

"Don't mention it," Jeff answered, smiling, "But I think the others might need our help."

The two took off along the village streets, searching for their friends amidst the chaos. They finally found Ness and Paula, along with a very large group of monsters. Ness caught sight of his friends and called out to them.

"We could use some help over here!" he said as he batted away a dragon zombie. Poo nodded and closed his eyes. He stood for a moment, gathering his power. He then opened his eyes and raised his hands. Poo then unleashed his strongest attack.

"PK Starstorm!" he shouted, and a mass of energy stars came falling from the sky, directly on top of the monsters. Ness put up a PSI Shield around Paula and himself as the deadly blasts rained down on their surrounding foes. Several shots came close to the shield and the explosions nearly overwhelmed it. Just when Ness thought the shield would collapse, the stars stopped falling.

"Nice job, Poo," Ness called. Poo smiled and gave a respectful nod in return. Then Ness saw a very big dragon zombie charging at his friends from behind. "Look out!" he yelled. Jeff and Poo turned around, but the dragon was already upon them, ready to strike them down.

"HUZZAH!" yelled Balrog as he came down on top of the dragon zombie, nearly crushing it. The monster was down, but it wasn't out. It got back up and prepared to spray Balrog with fire. Suddenly, Sue jumped off a nearby building and delivered a powerful kick to the dragons head. The monster choked on its fire ball as smoke started pouring from its nostrils. Balrog then hit the monster with a flying tackle that sent the beast sprawling. Several panels opened on Balrog's sides and several missiles shot out of them, blasting the undead monster into dust.

"And that's why the undead should stay dead!" crowed Sue as she stood over the deceased monster. "Nice shooting there, Balrog," she continued.

"Weren't nothing," Balrog replied, almost sheepishly. Sue then turned towards Ness and his friends.

"Are we going to have to come to your guy's rescue every time?" she asked.

"You can come to my rescue any time, my dear," replied Poo. Sue rolled her eyes.

"Well, break's over, we need to find Quote and Curly," she said. The six of them made their way towards the cave that led to the main village, prepared to meet whatever was inside.

**====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====**

Pokey was getting angry. These robots were running circles around him, making him look like a fool.

"No one makes a fool out of Pokey Minch," he growled. Pokey activated his mech's flame weapon and began shooting a stream of fire at the two robots. Quote and Curly split up, each ducking around an opposite building. Pokey stopped, he couldn't go after one without being hit from behind by the other.

_'These two are good,'_ he thought. Pokey looked up at the cave's ceiling, a dark smile spread over his face. _'But I'm better. No one beats Pokey Minch. No one.'_ He fired several missiles into the ceiling, causing part of it to cave in. Debris crushed the buildings the robots had gone behind. They couldn't have survived.

Pokey turned his mech around, getting ready to continue his search for the elusive blue wearing mimiga. Suddenly, Pokey's mech was struck from both sides by weapon fire. The two androids had snuck around the buildings while he had been blasting the ceiling and had gotten flanking positions on him. Pokey was trapped between the two, whenever he started tracking one, the other would start attacking him and throw off his aim. Finally, he'd had enough. Pokey's mech jumped clean over a building and took off down one of the broader village streets, hoping to loose he two robots. He couldn't take both of them on by himself, he needed reinforcements. As he barreled down the boulevard, he noticed a figure standing in the street. It was the male android.

_'How did he get there so fast?'_ Pokey wondered. The robot raised his hand, in it was a gun. Pokey tensed, he'd taken quite a few hard hits from that gun and wasn't sure how much more of it his mech could take. The android pulled the trigger and...

Nothing happened. Pokey laughed and set his mech running towards the robot. He was doomed.

Quote waited until the mech had nearly reached him, then he let go of the trigger. A massive energy blast shot from the gun.

"Oh," Pokey said. It was all he had time to say before his mech was blasted clean out of the cave.

**====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====**

Ness and the others had nearly reached the cave entrance when a large object flew out of the cave, just barely making it over their heads. It crashed in a heap a few feet behind them.

"What the hell was that!" yelled Sue.

"Just some fat kid in a robot spider," said Curly as she and Quote walked out of the cave.

"Wait, fat kid in a robot spider?" Ness asked hurriedly. He turned towards the heap behind them. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was Pokey Minch in his spider mech. Pokey was pounding his mech's controls, trying to make the machine stand up again. The mech twitched and then, it slowly managed to lift itself off the ground. The machine could barely stand upright. Two of its legs were inoperable and it was smoking in several places.

"Stupid machine," Pokey muttered. He then looked up and noticed that, in addition to both of the robots he was fighting, a large box-like thing and five young teenagers were standing in front of the cave. Pokey then grinned in recognition.

"Well well well, if it isn't old pig's-butt," he chuckled, "Still slumming around with your poor friends, Ness?"

"Hello, Pokey," Ness replied, "Still causing trouble, I see."

"More trouble than you and your little friends can handle this time," Pokey continued.

"What are you talking about, Pokey?" Ness asked, suspicion creeping into his voice. Pokey started chuckling.

"I think you already know, Ness. An old friend has come back, and he's just _dying_ to see you again. Heh heh heh heh heh."

Ness's eyes widened. "You don't mean...?" Ness began. Pokey continued to laugh.

"Yes, Ness. Giygas has come back, and he means business. Heh heh heh. He means more business than you can imagine! Ha ha ha ha haah!" Pokey laughed.

Ness and his friends recoiled.

"No way," said Jeff in disbelief, "There's just no way."

"It can't be," said Paula, "Not him. Not Giygas."

Ness clenched his fists. "Where is he, Pokey?" he began angrily, "Where is Giygas?"

Pokey continued to laugh. "He's closer than you think, pig's-butt. You're all doomed this time. Ha ha ha! You and your little toy friends!"

"Ah, shut up you fat bastard!" Sue yelled at Pokey. Pokey obliged. "I don't care how powerful you think this Giygas is," she continued, "But we're gonna kick his butt, just like all your other monsters! Right guys?" She turned to the others.

"Yeah!" shouted Curly, "We've done the impossible before, we can take on your little 'Galactic Destroyer.'"

Ness smiled at their confidence. _'Yeah,'_ he thought, _'We _can_ do this. We beat him before and we can beat him again.'_

_'Do you really believe that?'_ came a mysterious voice. Ness looked around.

"Who was that?" he asked, "Where are you?"

_'You don't really think you can defeat me, do you?'_ the voice continued. The shock of recognition hit Ness like a tidal wave.

_'No,'_ he thought in horror, _'How is he inside my head?'_

_ 'I'm always in your head.'_ Giygas continued, _'I'm always with you. I am everywhere. You can't escape me.'_

Ness shook his head. "Get out of my mind!" he shouted, "Get out of my mind and show yourself!" Everyone looked at Ness. Pokey grinned. He was familiar with Giygas's mind games and was enjoying watching Ness squirm under the mental assault.

_'Foolish boy, you just don't seem to listen. Very well, if you really want to see me, just look up.'_ Ness did. He swung his gaze around the skies, expecting to see a floating red mass of unfathomable evil. He couldn't see a thing, the skies were clear, except for the smoke from the village. Ness's gaze then settled on a hill overlooking the village. He froze. Everyone else followed his gaze to the top of the hill to the being floating just above it. The alien was tall with pale skin and a long tale. It seemed to appear both smooth and slender while being harsh and imposing at the same time. The most striking feature was its eyes, eyes that glowed red with an unimaginable hate. The alien floated down the hill like a dandelion seed caught in a light breeze, slowly, almost casually making its way towards the group at the bottom.

Ness was petrified. He had wondered what Giygas had looked like before going mad with power, and what he saw both awed and terrified him. The being before him was both beautiful and horrifying simultaneously. It was like seeing a damned angel, a being of visual splendor with a heart of pure evil.

"Surprised to see me?" Giygas asked casually, "I can say that I didn't expect to see you here, but I do intend to make the most of it." Giygas had barely finished speaking before Quote let loose with a blast from his Spur. Quote had been following Giygas's progress down the hill and was ready to unleash hell on this latest adversary. Just before the beam struck, Giygas raised his hand, along with a translucent pale-orange psychic barrier, catching the beam and causing a small explosion on impact. Giygas turned an unfriendly gaze towards Quote. "That was rather rude," he stated.

"Sorry," replied Quote, with a smile that seemed almost cocky, "But I don't make it a point to be polite to my enemies."

Ness, Paula, Jeff, Poo, and Pokey's collective jaws dropped. Here was this pale little teenage robot, not only challenging, but bantering with Giygas, the Galactic Cosmic Destroyer himself, like he was just any other enemy. They couldn't fully process just what they were seeing. Ness thought for certain he was dreaming and Pokey was on the verge of pissing himself. No one spoke to Giygas like that, no one. Giygas regarded the robot for a moment, then he smiled.

"No, I'm sure you wouldn't," he chuckled, "Very well then, lets get started." Giygas then let loose with a wave of PSI energy straight at Quote, and everyone standing around him. Ness and his friends snapped out of their shock as the attack rushed towards them, a light shimmer in the air the only indication that an attack was coming. There was a mad scramble in the few seconds before the attack hit that left everyone in a tangle as the wave of psychic power missed them just barely before slamming into a building, completely leveling it.

Ness got up and shook himself off. He then turned to Quote and his allies. "You guys need to get out of here, and fast!" he screamed at them.

"What, and miss all this action!" Sue yelled back.

"I'm serious!" Ness responded, "Giygas is not like anything you've fought before, just let us handle it!" Ness charged up a PK Rockin and hurled it at Giygas. The alien blocked the attack with another shield and began to slowly advance across the battle field.

Quote and Curly looked at each other. "You guys don't know us very well if you think we're gonna back down from a fight like this!" Curly shouted to Ness. "We're staying, and we're helping you kick this creep's butt!" Curly jumped from behind cover and opened fire with her machinegun. Giygas raised another barrier in front of him as he continued his advance.

_'These guys are crazy!'_ Pokey thought as he watched, _'They actually think they can take on Giygas! It'll be a miracle if they survive. And I don't really believe in miracles anyway.'_ Pokey put on an evil grin. These guys were toast.

_'This might be a little tougher than I thought,'_ Giygas mused. He was caught in a stalemate with the blond robot. He couldn't attack while maintaining his barrier and he couldn't lower it while the robot kept firing on him. The only thing he could do was continue to advance and hope that her machinegun would eventually run out of ammunition. Which it did. Rather, Curly's machinegun had run out of charge and needed a moment before she could fire it again. Giygas dropped his barrier and prepared to unleash a massive attack on the small robot. He was then hit from his right by a barrage of missiles. Quote had gone on top of a near-by building and had been waiting for this moment. As soon as Giygas's shield had fallen, he had unloaded with every last missile he had.

_'He can't attack while he has his shield up,'_ Ness realized, _'He does have a weakness!'_ "Guys!" he yelled to his friends, "Start hammering him!" Ness let loose with a PK Rockin while Paula launched a PK Freeze attack. Jeff fired off a multi bottle rocket and Poo prepared to use his PK Starstorm. Attacks hit Giygas from all sides as moved to avoid what he could, his agile body diving between missiles and PSI attacks. He then noticed a massive barrage of star blasts raining from the sky. He gathered his strength and raised a powerful dome shield around himself as the blast began to hit the surrounding ground. The bombardment lasted for a full two minutes, and Pokey could only stare at the shear ferocity of the attack.

_'Looks like these guys mean business too,'_ he thought, and he began to worry that if, and it was still a big if, if those guys actually did defeat Giygas, he might be next. Pokey gulped and began moving his mech away from the village. Better to be a coward and alive than brave and dead.


	5. Black Clouds in a Red Sky

**A/N: Hello everyone. Sorry the chapter is so late, writing the chapter was a little slow, and my editor took his time to actually finish editing. I can only hope that the action in this chapter at least partially makes up for the delay. Get ready all you fans, because the Doctor has just entered the building.**

**====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====**

Poo was exhausted. He had thrown everything he had into that last attack hoping it would be enough to take down Giygas. Ness and Paula were experiencing similar fatigue after their own barrage and Jeff had nearly run out of bottle rockets. Quote and Curly weren't as tired as their allies, but Curly's machine gun was still inoperable and Quote's missile launcher had finally run out of ammunition. The spot where Giygas had been was still shrouded in smoke.

"Did we get him?" Curly asked. The all watched the smoke clear to reveal...

A translucent orange bubble, completely untouched in comparison to the destroyed ground surrounding it. Giygas was still alive. Alive, but not in peak condition.

_'That was closer than I would have liked,'_ Giygas thought. He was breathing heavily after the bombardment his shield had taken. _'Regardless,'_ he continued to himself, _'They won't win that easily.'_ Giygas dropped the shield and looked around at his foes. They were all drained, none of them would be ready for his next attack. Giygas smiled, this would still be easy. He began to gather energy for a massive attack, preparing to wipe out all of his enemies at once.

Sue looked out from behind the building. _'He's still not down?'_ she thought. Giygas certainly was resilient, but now it was her turn. She may not have any special weapons or powers, but she could deliver a mean butt-kicking when it was called for, and right now, it was definitely called for. Sue ran out from behind the building and charged straight at Giygas. He was so busy preparing his attack that he didn't even notice her until it was too late. Sue delivered a smashing punch right into Giygas's gut. His eyes widened as he lost his focus and doubled over in what was obviously pain.

_'Did she just hit me?'_ he thought in disbelief. No one had ever hit him before. Of course he had been struck by PSI attacks and the like, but no one had ever managed to physically strike him before. Just as hard as the punch to his gut was the blow to his pride. Despite all his powers, he was still a relatively frail being and not well suited to hand-to-hand fighting. But in his defense, he never had to defend from physical attacks before, usually destroying his enemies before they would even get close enough to harm him or simply blocking or avoiding ranged attacks sent his way.

He recovered quickly, and as Sue came in for a second strike, he forced her back with a burst of psychic energy. Sue skidded backwards but was able to right herself without falling over. She ran back at Giygas, intending to deliver another blow, this time to his smug face. He had a right to be smug though,as she found out when Giygas raised his hand and managed to lift Sue into the air without even touching her. Now he had the upper hand, and he was keen on exacting revenge in the name of his wounded pride.

"You have made a very grave mistake," he said, looking Sue straight in the eye. She responded by spitting in his face. The spit wad never reached him though, and was caught in his psychic grip. Giygas frowned. _'First punches, now spit? Is there no end to the insults?'_ he thought as he began to squeeze the life from her.

Quote's eyes widened as he saw Sue struggling in Giygas' death grip. He gritted his teeth. He brought up his Spur and opened fire on Giygas. Giygas raised his other hand and formed psychic barrier between him and the android. The shots impacted harmlessly on the shield. Quote got angry and drew his blade. He charged Giygas and dove right through the barrier. Quote began swinging his blade at Giygas hoping break his grip on Sue. It did. Giygas let Sue go and jumped backwards to avoid Quote's onslaught.

"Sue, are you alright?" Curly asked as she rushed to where Sue had fallen. Sue coughed and managed to sit up.

"Yeah," she said, "I'm alright." She stood up. "Come on, I'm not done with this guy just yet." Curly smiled and stood up as well. They turned back to where Quote and Giygas were fighting, or more accurately, where Quote was swinging his blade wildly while Giygas kept trying to avoid him.

Giygas floated backwards trying to move out of the mad robot's range, but every time he moved back, Quote would move forward and continue his onslaught of rage powered swings. Giygas was hard pressed to keep avoiding the attacks, despite his own natural speed, this robot was just about able to keep up with him and was getting closer all the time. Suddenly, Giygas felt something cold on his face and with a start, realized he had been hit. He leapt back an incredible distance and sent a blast of PSI directly at Quote. Quote dove to the side and narrowly missed being struck by the attack. Giygas raised a hand to his cheek. He felt blood. That little robot had actually drawn blood. _No one_ drew blood from Giygas. Giygas felt an intense anger boiling within him. He had been insulted, struck, and he had actually bled. This fight was no longer about appeasing that mad Doctor. Now, it was _personal_.

Before Giygas could vent his fury, however, a large number of missiles were launched at his location. Giygas took to the air as the missiles exploded beneath him. He looked back up to notice a large box-like object flying towards him at great speed. Balrog slammed into Giygas hard, knocking him clean out of the sky. Giygas hit the ground as Balrog came down on top of him.

"HUZZAH!" he yelled as he prepared to crush the alien beneath him. Giygas darted out from beneath the titanic block just before it struck the ground with a reverberating slam. Giygas righted himself, only to be struck from the side by one of Ness's PK Rockin attacks.

"Glad you decided to rejoin the party," Quote called to Ness.

"We couldn't let you guys have all the fun," Ness shouted in response. He followed up with another PK Rockin, intent on bringing Giygas down. Paula joined in with her PK Freeze and Poo unleashed his own PK Thunder. Jeff continued to fire shots from his Gaia Beam. Giygas darted down the avenue, floating quickly over the debris as he tried to escape. He simply couldn't handle the sheer volume of firepower he was being subject to. He ducked behind a building and stopped.

_'What am I doing?'_ he thought, _'I am Giygas, the Galactic Cosmic Destroyer. I don't run! I DESTROY!'_ Giygas gathered up an immense amount of energy. He then leapt out into the avenue and released a beam of pure PSI power at his enemies. The massive beam glowed bright orange with power. Ness gathered all of his strength and erected a psychic barrier around himself and his allies. It held for only a moment before shattering under the sheer force of the attack. Quote grabbed Sue and Curly and threw them out of the beam's path while Poo teleported himself, Jeff, and Paula out of the way. Quote, Ness, and Balrog were all caught in the blast. The explosion was massive, lighting up the smoke with orange light and booming sound like thunder. From his perch on a hill overlooking the village, Pokey stared at the explosion in awe.

_'I'm glad I got out of there when I had the chance,'_ he thought in relief, _'Too bad pig's-butt and his little toy soldier friend weren't so lucky, I was looking forward to giving them a good trouncing __when Master Giygas was done with them. Oh well, guess you can't always get what you want. Especially in your case, Ness. Hasta la vista, looser. Ha ha ha.'_ Pokey laughed to himself, glad that the show at least got to end with a bang.

**====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====**

Ness opened his eyes. He was alright. He looked to his right. Quote was alright too. He smiled and looked in front of him. Balrog was not alright, he had jumped in front of the other two and taken the full force of the blast. His body was charred and smoking in some places.

"Balrog!" Ness cried, "Are you alright?" Balrog groaned.

"Just dandy," he moaned before falling over.

"Balrog? Balrog!" Ness yelled, but the cube didn't stir.

Ness was angry. First, he and his friend get thrown into new world, then they find Pokey and Giygas trying to destroy everything, and now, his new friends were being hurt in a battle they never should have been a part of. Ness was furious, and he needed to vent. He turned to Quote who was staring unblinking down the road. Ness followed his gaze towards where Giygas stood. Ness found his outlet. His anger fueling his strength, Ness charged a powerful PK Rockin attack, ready to blast Giygas into the great beyond. Quote seemed to have similar thoughts on his mind, because he had his Spur leveled at Giygas and was charging the gun for a powerful blast of his own. The two released their blasts at the same time, the attacks merging into one powerful blast of multicolored energy that barreled down the road straight for Giygas. The alien being had no time to dodge, and the blast took him full in the chest, hurling him backwards head-over-heels through a building and into the next street.

Curly and Sue came out of the building they had landed in. They both looked down the destroyed boulevard.

"Wow," Sue said in awe. Curly rushed over to Quote.

"Quote!" she yelled, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he replied, his tone grim, "But Balrog isn't." Curly turned her gaze towards the box lying flat on his back in the street.

"Oh my God! Balrog!" she yelled as she rushed towards him, Sue following. Quote turned to Ness and they both began to make their way towards their fallen ally. Poo, Paula, and Jeff teleported back to the street. They made their way to the others.

"Oh no!" said Paula, "Is he going to be okay?" she asked in a worried tone. Quote looked at her.

"I don't know," he said solemnly, "I've never seen him hurt this badly before."

"Maybe I can do something," said Ness, "Just give me a moment with him." Quote nodded and everyone backed away. Ness knelt down beside Balrog and placed his hand over him.

_'Heal,'_ Ness thought, sending PSI energy into his friend. _'Heal.'_

Balrog moaned. His eyes opened.

"Balrog!" Sue yelled, "You're alright!"

"Yeah," he replied wearily, "I just need a little rest..." he said as he drifted into sleep. Ness stood up.

"He'll be fine," he said, "He just needs time to regain his strength." He turned back down the boulevard. "Come on," he said to the others, "This fight isn't over yet."

Just as he finished, an explosion rocked the village. Several buildings at the end of the boulevard collapsed. Giygas floated forth from the ruble.

"You impudent _insects_!" he screamed, "I will not be defeated by pathetic inferior beings like you! You are no better than roaches beneath my feet!"

"Funny thing about roaches," Quote jibbed, "They're very hard to squash."

Giygas screamed in rage and began to gather his power. Ness, Quote, and their allies readied for Giygas's next attack.

Suddenly, the sound of slow deliberate clapping began to fill the air.

"Bravo, bravo," a cold voice carried over the street, "What a spectacular show." Quote froze.

"That voice..." he said, "It can't be." Quote turned around. Everyone else followed his gaze. Standing at the opposite end of the boulevard was a tall man wearing a white lab coat and mirrored glasses. Ness felt his blood run cold. The man's presence seemed oppressive, stealing the life from the very air around him.

"No," said Sue, "No, no way. You died! There's just no way!"

"Who is that?" Paula asked, turning to Quote.

"That's the Doctor. Fuyuhiko Date." Ness felt his heart stop.

_'Like a human version of Giygas,'_ he thought. The Doctor laughed. A deep cold laugh that held no joy, just malicious scathing.

"So you do remember me," he said, "I'm touched. It is the very least you could do since you destroyed my body and doomed me to an eternity trapped within my own creation!" As he finished, the Red Crystal floated out from behind him, taking up it's orbit around the evil man.

"No, not that," said Quote, "That thing was destroyed! I was there!" The Doctor laughed again.

"Did you really believe that?" he scoffed, "You truly don't understand the magnificent power this crystal holds, do you. You truly cannot grasp the power I have now, can you? So limited in your thinking. Just like all those other fools. This truly is perfection," he gestured at the crystal orbiting him. "This is ultimate potential realized! This will revolutionize the world! This is my power, and it is the last thing you will ever see!" As the Doctor's speech reached its crescendo, he unleashed a blast of blood red energy spiraling down the boulevard.

Ness managed to get over his shock and erect a psychic barrier just before the Doctor's attack hit. The energy dispersed against the shield, but the force of the attack pushed Ness back onto one knee. Quote was the next to snap out of his daze, raising his Spur and firing a blast directly at the Doctor. The Doctor responded with a smirk and raised his hand in front of him, forming his own barrier of red energy between him and the oncoming blast. Quote's shot dispersed harmlessly against the shield.

"He couldn't do that last time..." Quote said. The Doctor's smirk grew even wider.

"I can do so much more than just that," he replied, raising his hand above his head. Four spheres of crimson energy formed above him. The spheres began to glow bright and then began projecting beams of energy towards Quote and the others. Ness and the others scattered as Quote jumped onto a building. The beams followed him, cutting through anything they touched. Ness stood up and prepared to attack the Doctor, when a large blast struck him from behind.

"Don't you _dare_ turn your back on me!" shouted Giygas from above as he launched another attack towards Ness. Ness just managed to dodge the shimmering blast, responding with a PK Rockin in Giygas's direction. Giygas raised his shield, blocking the attack. Ness fell onto his knees.

_'I can't keep this up,'_ he thought, _'My attacks can't touch him, and I can't dodge forever.'_

Paula saw Ness and turned her attention toward Giygas. She gritted her teeth and launched a massive PK Fire attack at the airborne foe. Giygas flew around the attack and sent a return blast towards her. Jeff grabbed Paula's arm and pulled her out of the way.

"Thank you Jeff," she said, "But Ness is still in trouble." Jeff turned towards Ness and saw him struggling to stand. He turned back to Paula.

"I'll distract Giygas," he said, "You get Ness out of there."

"But Jeff,"

"No buts, just go!" he shouted before firing beam at Giygas. The shot caught Giygas off guard, striking him in the shoulder. Giygas growled and turned his sights on Jeff, sending several blasts in his direction. Jeff took off running, drawing Giygas away from Ness.

**====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====**

Quote jumped from building to building, just barely keeping ahead of the Doctor's energy beams.

"You can't run forever," the Doctor yelled. He formed a red sphere in his hands and hurled it at Quote. The building Quote had just landed on shattered under him as the Doctor's blast struck it. The red energy beams carved through the rubble, incinerating what was left. The beams stopped and the Doctor dispersed the spheres, a wide grin splitting his features.

"Was that really all you had? Looks like these years of peaceful living have made you soft. And to think you actually were able to defeat me. Perhaps it is that I have just grown far too powerful to handle. I..." The Doctor cut off as he raised his hand and formed another barrier, just before a blast from Curly's Nemesis nearly caught him in the face.

"You talk too much!" she shouted, continuing to pepper his shield with shots.

"Pathetic," the Doctor muttered, charging another blast in his hand. He tossed the gathered energy over his head and expanded his shield around him, forming a dome. The energy sphere exploded, kicking up a smoke cloud around the area. Curly tightened her grip on her Nemesis. She couldn't see through the smoke, and the Doctor could be anywhere.

"Behind you," the Doctor said. Curly turned and fired a blast in the direction of his voice. The shot passed harmlessly through the smoke.

"Ooooh, just missed," the Doctor's voice came from the left this time. Curly turned again, but didn't fire. She kept her gun level and squinted through the smoke.

"Not so trigger happy this time, I see." Behind her again. "What happened to all that anger?" This time in front. "Aren't you angry that I killed your ally?" Now right. "I suppose not. You are just a machine after all." Left again. Curly turned around and aimed. "You can only imitate human emo... Ooof!" Curly's shot took the Doctor in the gut. She fired again. This time the shot hit a shield. "You're learning I see," the Doctor said mockingly, "Very well then, next lesson!" The Doctor fired two shots spiraling around each other in a double-helix.

_'Have to time this just right,'_ Curly thought. Just before the double blast reached her, Curly jumped into it, diving between the two shots. She flowed into a roll, coming up on one knee and firing a return shot at the Doctor. The blast struck the Doctor's shield.

"You forgot about my shield," the Doctor chided, "You should know better. If you can't break through a barrier, you go around it." Just as he finished, the Doctor was struck in the back by another blast. He stumbled forward, then turned and looked behind him.

"I did," Quote said, his Spur leveled at the Doctor's chest, "And you should know better than to underestimate me!" Quote released the charge, sending a large blast straight towards the Doctor.

**====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====**

"Get back here you ugly human!" Giygas screamed from the air, releasing another psychic blast after the fleeing Jeff. The ground behind Jeff exploded, sending dirt up into the air.

_'That was too close,'_ thought Jeff as he ducked behind a building, _'I hope Paula got Ness to safety.'_ The adjacent building exploded into rubble.

"You cant hide from me!" Giygas shouted. He built up another wave of energy and launched it at another building, completely leveling it. "Come out!"

"He'll find me eventually," Jeff sighed, "Might as well go down fighting!" Jeff leapt outside the building and opened fire on Giygas. The first shot hit, but the rest impacted the alien's shield. Giygas condensed the barrier's energy into an orange sphere and hurled it at Jeff.

_'I guess this is it...'_ Jeff thought as he waited for the eminent explosion following the blast's impact. There was a bright flash, and then everything was white.

**====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====**

Quote's blast was a mere foot from the Doctor when it was intercepted by the Doctor's crystal. The evil jewel was completely unscathed. Quote's eyes widened in momentary shock, but he quickly recovered, drawing his blade and charging the Doctor. The Doctor smirked and began to build up energy in his hand. Quote hesitated, expecting another energy blast. He was caught off guard when the energy formed into a long slender blade which the Doctor proceeded to swing at Quote. Quote brought his own blade up to block the Doctor's red sword. The two blades hissed as they met, smoke rising from where they touched. The Doctor stepped back and then came forward with a lunge that forced Quote back on his heels. Quote rushed back in with a low swipe. The Doctor blocked it with one hand, and fired an energy blast from his other. Quote was forced back again, but was able to maintain his footing.

"I see you understand swordplay," the Doctor spoke, raising his own blade vertically in front of him, "Perhaps this may be a challenge after all. Suddenly, the Doctor's body was sheathed in a crimson glow. His skin turned red and his hair became stark white. His eyes began to glow behind his glasses. The Doctor chuckled and charged Quote, his blade held high over his head. Quote readied his blade to block the downward strike, when suddenly, the Doctor vanished. Quote hesitated for a moment. He then turned around and just managed to block the Doctor's horizontal slash.

Curly was moving quickly, trying to get a clear shot at the Doctor. But wherever she went, the Red Crystal followed her, blocking her shots and diving in at her at high speeds. Curly was hard pressed to avoid the flying jewel and soon turned her Nemesis on it. No matter how many times she shot it though, the crystal remained unmarred and continued to hound her relentlessly. Curly ducked into a building after avoiding another charge from the crystal. She looked down at the floor and broke into a smile.

The Red Crystal flew through the doorway of the building, on a collision course with the female android. Curly raised a large mallet and swung at the persistent gem. She hit it head on, hurling it out a broken window and into the air.

**====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====0====**

Jeff blinked his eyes open.

"Huh, that didn't hurt as much as I thought it would," he mused.

"I'm glad you think so," came a voice to his left, "Because my head feels as though it is about to split in two." Jeff turned his head, and saw Poo standing right next to him. He then noticed that they were surrounded by one of Poo's psychic barriers. The young prince was sweating and his brow was knitted in deep concentration. Giygas continued to hurl psychic blasts at the barrier, attempting to break the shield.

Suddenly, a red blur shot through the air, missing the alien by only a few feet. The blur slowed as it passed and made a broad u-turn, returning in the direction it had come. Jeff, Poo, and Giygas followed the object's progression, momentarily forgetting about each other as they watched the mysterious blur. As they watched the object fly, a bright multicolored wave of energy hurtled from the opposite direction. The energy slammed into Giygas, causing him to tumble out of the air for the second time that day.

Jeff and Poo turned in the direction the blast came from. Standing triumphantly on a pile of rubble were Ness and Paula.

"Looks like you guys could use a hand," Ness said, "And You look like you could use an energy boost." Ness tossed a small object at Poo. Poo caught the object and looked at it. It was a magic truffle.

"Thank you Ness," Poo said, proceeding to eat the truffle in a single bite while still managing to look dignified. Poo felt his strength return and wiped the sweat from his brow. Jeff and Poo moved to stand by their friends, ready for to confront Giygas head on.

Giygas blasted a building out of his path and proceeded to stare down the Chosen Four with as much hatred and malice as he had. The four friends stood unphased, and stared back at Giygas. The alien's gaze broke first and he then launched a large psychic wave against his adversaries. Ness and Poo raised their hands, combining their power in front of them and forming an impenetrable barrier of power between them and their otherworldly foe.

_'They're still fighting,'_ Giygas thought as his blasts dispersed off the children's shield, _'Even in the face of certain defeat, they keep fighting. Why? Why do they do this?'_

"Why do you keep fighting?" Giygas shouted, "How can you continue knowing that you can't hope to win! Is it some misguided sense of pride that keeps you standing, or some foolish ideas of camaraderie? Or are you just determined to die in a blaze of glory, fighting against the unstoppable in some noble effort to save your pathetic home world?"

"No," Ness said, "It's none of those things. At least, not as you see them. What you think is pride is the will to stand up to evil, no matter how frightening or powerful it may seem. Our foolish camaraderie, as you say, goes much deeper than just a common goal. It's the combination of our hopes and dreams and prayers. The friendship we share with each other and with everyone else we love back home. And we won't die trying to stop the unstoppable, we will live, protecting the Earth from you and from anyone else who thinks they can just push us around. We're not pathetic, we're strong, stronger than you think, stronger than you will ever be. Because we have each other, and we have everyone else cheering for us back home. Waiting for us to return after we finally beat you. We have love, and that's something you'll never destroy."

Giygas stared down the street.

"Love?," he said, "Love! All this because of _love_!" The sky instantly darkened and a strong wind began to blow. "You think that just because you have love that makes you invincible! Love is an empty shallow emotion that leaves holes in whatever it touches! Love is a weak ideal that people cling to when they have nothing else to hold on too! A shred of false hope too easily blown away in the winds of time! Love is a cold betrayer that takes away everything of worth leaving a shattered empty husk!" Ness and the others began moving backwards, unconsciously shying away from Giygas's cold fury. "If you think that love is your true strength," Giygas yelled as he lifted himself into the air, "Then you have _NO STRENGTH AT ALL_!"

A large bolt of lightning split the darkening sky. The wind blew faster, causing the trees surrounding the village to sway and lean. Atop his hill, Pokey could feel and see the strength of the growing storm.

_'I never saw Giygas get this angry before,'_ he thought in fear, _'If this keeps up who knows what could happen.'_ In his minds eye, Pokey saw the great storm spread to cover the world, carrying a thousand red swirling faces, all glaring in hatred at the earth below.


	6. Until next we meet

Hello dear readers. You've probably been concerned with the lack of updates. Allow me to put your concerns to rest. After struggling with personal issues and significant writer's block, I have decided to rewrite the story. Revisions will include, but are not limited to, streamlining of the plot to make it easier to follow, more detailed character interaction and development, a few minor plot changes, and combining of certain chapters to streamline the general flow. The revised version will be reposted under a new title and with new chapter names. Until then, I'll leave the original version intact, but expect it to be removed when the revision goes up. Thank you for staying with me this far and I hope I can make up for my extreme delays with better quality work. Until next we meet. 


End file.
